Heat sink structure

ABSTRACT

A heat sink structure includes a base and heat dissipating fins, which are arranged into at least two heat dissipating groups and integrally formed with the base. Lines connecting apexes of the heat dissipating fins in the heat dissipating group form a convex arc shape. In addition, The heat dissipating fins of the neighboring heat dissipating groups are arranged in the same pattern, or are arranged at different levels and in a gradually rising or gradually falling manner. Thus, the heat dissipation efficiency of the heat sink structure is enhanced.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to the technical field of a heat sink, and more particularly to a heat sink, which may be applied to a light-emitting diode (LED) road lamp, a solar energy thermoelectric conversion apparatus or any other apparatus or element requiring heat dissipating by way of heat transfer.

2. Related Art

A typical opto-electronic apparatus, such as a LED apparatus, generates a lot of heat in the working process, and the heat decreases the working efficiency and the lifetime of the opto-electronic apparatus. Therefore, the opto-electronic apparatus works in conjunction with a heat sink or a heat dissipating system for dissipating the heat.

A frequently seen heat sink mounted on an outdoor apparatus, such as a LED road or street lamp, has parallel, contour, long and sheet-like heat dissipating fins for absorbing and dissipating the heat.

Because the heat sink is directly exposed to the atmosphere, the heat sink may contact with the rain, dust or leaves and is not adapted to the condition with a fan that may increase the heat dissipating effect.

In order to enhance the heat dissipating effect, the surface area of the heat sink has to be enlarged. However, the way of enlarging the heat dissipating area is to increase the number of the heat dissipating fins, and this way decreases the gap between the heat dissipating fins and is disadvantageous to the heat radiation and convection. Next, the too dense heat dissipating fins tend to increase the possibility of accumulating the dust or leaves, so that the heat dissipating effect is deteriorated.

In addition, when the air flowing direction is the direction of normal of the heat dissipating fin, the parallel and contour structures of the heat dissipating fins suppress the heat of the inner heat dissipating fins from being easily dissipated and cause the heat accumulation. In addition, the too-dense arranged state cannot substantially enhance the heat dissipating effect.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a heat sink structure capable of generating thermal convection effects such that the heat on each heat dissipating fin can be rapidly dissipated into the atmosphere and the heat dissipating effect is enhanced.

According to the above-mentioned object and effect, the invention discloses a heat sink structure including a base and at least two heat dissipating groups formed on the base and integrally formed with the base. Each heat dissipating group includes a plurality of heat dissipating fins, and connecting lines connecting apexes of the heat dissipating fins form a convex arc shape.

Further scope of the applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the present invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view showing a first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration showing the structure of the first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration showing a windward side contacting with the flowing air according to the invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration showing a structure of a second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a pictorial view showing a third embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic plane view showing the third embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a pictorial view showing a fourth embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic plane view showing the fourth embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic illustration showing the structure of the invention applied to a LED road lamp.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same references relate to the same elements.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a heat sink structure 10 includes a base 12 and at least one heat dissipating group 14, wherein two heat dissipating groups 14 are depicted in the drawings. The heat dissipating group 14 is composed of a plurality of heat dissipating fins 142, and each heat dissipating fin 142 and the base 12 are integrally formed. Furthermore, the heat dissipating fins 142 of each heat dissipating group 14 are disposed in parallel, and two neighboring heat dissipating fins 142 are not contour fins.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the neighboring heat dissipating fins 142 of each heat dissipating group 14 are parallel fins but not contour fins, so the connecting lines (dashed lines in the drawing) connecting the end portions (apexes) of the heat dissipating fins 142 may form a convex arc structure 146.

Furthermore, the neighboring heat dissipating groups 14 may be arranged in the same shape and have the same height or disposed at the same level. Thus, the connecting lines connecting the apexes of the heat dissipating fins 142 of each heat dissipating group 14 can form continuous arcs with the same form.

The arced structure 146 formed by the connecting lines connecting the apexes of the heat dissipating fins 142 represents the levels of the apexes gradually change from low to high or gradually change from low to high and then from high to low.

As shown in FIG. 3, the neighboring heat dissipating fins 142 of the invention form the gradually rising structure. So, when the flowing air contacts with the heat dissipating fin 142, the heat on the surface of the heat dissipating fin 142 is directly taken away, and cyclones are formed in the gap 144 between the neighboring heat dissipating fins 142.

Because the heat dissipating fins 142 of the invention are arranged in the gradually rising manner, a portion of the area of each heat dissipating fin 142 on the windward side contacts with the flowing air. On the other hand, the conventional heat dissipating fins are arranged in the contour state, so that only the outermost heat dissipating fin on the windward side contacts with the flowing air. Thus, the heat dissipation efficiency of the invention is better than that of the conventional design.

Furthermore, the cyclones formed in the gap 144 between the neighboring heat dissipating fins 142 of the invention can quickly take the heat on the surfaces of the heat dissipating fins 142, so that the heat dissipation efficiency is enhanced.

As shown in FIG. 4, the neighboring heat dissipating fins 142 in each heat dissipating group 14 have different heights to form the arced structure 146. Also, the neighboring heat dissipating groups 14 have different heights, so the heat dissipating fins 142 of each heat dissipating group 14 form the arced structure 146, and the neighboring arced structures 146 are further configured to have different heights to form the arced configurations (shown by the dashed lines), which gradually rise and fall. In this embodiment, the structure can provide the better and rapider heat dissipating effect.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the top edges of the heat dissipating fins 142 of the invention may have continuous arced structures (wavy structures) 148 with the same shape, and the arced structure (wavy structure) 148 of the same heat dissipating fin 142 has a plurality of arced sections with the same curvature and height. The arced structures 148 of the neighboring heat dissipating fins 142 may have the same structure, but the arced sections of the neighboring arced structures 148 are staggered, so that an included angle θ is formed between the connecting line 32 connecting the end portions of the arced sections of the neighboring arced structures 146 and a width extending direction 34 of the heat dissipating fin 142, as shown in FIG. 5.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the end portion (top edge) of each heat dissipating fin 142 of the invention has an arced structure (wavy structure) 148, and the arced sections of the arced structures 148 of the same heat dissipating fin 142 may continuously change from high to low or from low to high. In other words, the arced structure 148 is formed by connecting the arced sections with different heights. In addition, the arced sections of the neighboring arced structures 148 are staggered, and the corresponding arced structures 148 of the neighboring heat dissipating fins 142 are not arranged in the contour manner.

Furthermore, the heat dissipating group 14 is formed with the gradually rising structure and then the gradually falling structure from the end A to the end B. In addition, an included angle θ is formed between the corresponding connecting line 32 connecting the end portions of the arced sections of the neighboring heat dissipating fins 142 and the width extending direction 34 of the heat dissipating fin 142.

Thus, the heat dissipating group 14 of FIG. 7 includes the following characteristics. First, the arced structures 148 of each heat dissipating fin 142 have different heights. Second, the overall end portions of the heat dissipating group 14 also form the arced curvature. Third, the included angle is formed between the connecting line 32 connecting the end portions of the arced sections of the neighboring arced structures 148 and the width extending direction 34 of the heat dissipating fin 142.

In addition, although only one heat dissipating group 14 is illustrated in each of FIGS. 5 and 7, the heat dissipating fins 142 may be arranged into two or more heat dissipating groups 14 according to the teachings of the other embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 9, the heat dissipating fin 142 of the invention may be applied to an outdoor opto-electronic apparatus, such as a LED road lamp 20. Thus, the base 12 may be an upper lamp shell 22 of the LED road lamp 20, and the heat dissipating fin 142 and the upper lamp shell 22 are integrally formed.

The structure of the heat dissipating fin 142 of FIG. 9 may be replaced with the structure of FIG. 4, 5 or 7.

While the present invention has been described by way of examples and in terms of preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications. 

1. A heat sink structure, comprising: a base; and at least two heat dissipating groups formed on the base and integrally formed with the base, wherein each of the heat dissipating groups comprises a plurality of heat dissipating fins with end portions corresponding to one another so that connecting lines connecting the end portions form a convex arc structure.
 2. The heat sink structure according to claim 1, wherein the end portions of the heat dissipating fins of each of the heat dissipating groups correspondingly form an arced structure, and the arced structures of the neighboring heat dissipating groups have the same height, so that the neighboring arced structures form continuous arcs with the same pattern.
 3. The heat sink structure according to claim 1, wherein the end portions of the heat dissipating fins of each of the heat dissipating groups correspondingly form an arced structure, and the arced structures of the neighboring heat dissipating groups have different heights, so that the neighboring arced structures form arced configurations which gradually rise and fall.
 4. The heat sink structure according to claim 1, wherein the base is a metal plate.
 5. The heat sink structure according to claim 1, wherein the base is an upper lamp shell of a light-emitting diode (LED) road lamp.
 6. A heat sink structure, comprising: a base; and at least one heat dissipating group, which is formed on the base and integrally formed with the base, and comprises a plurality of heat dissipating fins, wherein an end portion of each of the heat dissipating fins is formed with an arced structure with arced sections.
 7. The heat sink structure according to claim 6, wherein the arced structures of the neighboring heat dissipating fins are contour structures and are staggered, so that an included angle is formed between a width extending direction of the heat dissipating fin and a connecting line connecting the arced sections of the neighboring heat dissipating fins.
 8. The heat sink structure according to claim 6, wherein the arced structure of each of the heat dissipating fins comprises the arced sections, which are connected together and have different heights, and the arced structures of the neighboring heat dissipating fins are staggered, so that an included angle is formed between a width extending direction of the heat dissipating fin and a connecting line connecting the arced sections of the neighboring heat dissipating fins.
 9. The heat sink structure according to claim 6, wherein the base is a metal plate.
 10. The heat sink structure according to claim 6, wherein the base is an upper lamp shell of a light-emitting diode (LED) road lamp. 